Exploring Various Home Siding Choices: Pricing, Advantages & Disadvantages (2021)

By Paul — May 6th, 2021

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Are you planning to renovate the exterior of your house? Have you picked out your roof by still unsure on the siding?

Did you know that 76% of homebuyers say that first impressions are everything when viewing a home?

The outside of your home is the first thing people see. Why wouldn't you want it to look fabulous?

House siding options and cost are two of the most important considerations for choosing your siding. Here are your options for 2021.

House Siding Options and Costs

When renovating your home, you need to think about more than just the interior. Your exterior is equally important, especially if you plan to sell it.

Nowadays, house siding options and costs can vary depending on location. It could also vary due to the amount of each material used.

We will cover the two most popular material house siding options in this article: Wood and Vinyl.

We will give you rough pricing of how much each material will cost you. We will also provide a couple of examples of how you can use each one.

Wood

Wood is such a diverse material. You can use it for many different projects. It can also be used in many different ways when renovating siding.

There are two options for the wood itself. You can choose natural wood or engineered wood siding. Natural wood comes from timber, making it more costly than manufactured wood.

The average price of natural wood is between $8 and $15 per square foot. Do you want to cover your entire house in siding? If so, natural wood could prove quite expensive to use. The price will vary depending on the area and grain type.

Manufactured wood is as it sounds. It's wood that has been created from fibers, sawdust, and bonding agents to keep it together. This process gives it a better strength than natural at less of a cost.

The average price for manufactured wood is between $7 and $14 per square foot. This price may not sound like a huge difference. But, as your materials add up, it could be substantial.

To get wood installed on your house, you could be looking between $17,000 and $29,000 for natural wood. Manufactured wood could cost between $15,000 and $27,000. This estimate is from 2,000 worth of material.

Let's look at a couple of examples of house siding ideas you can use with wood.

Bevel Style

The Bevel house style is also known to be called clapboard or lap siding. Bevel style housing is the most common style in the whole of North America.

The style is created by long planks covering the exterior of the home. These could remain a natural coloring, or the owner may paint them to match their taste.

The length of the planks will reach from the floor to the roof. But, the width and thickness of the planks are optional. The average thickness is around 1 inch, and the average width is between 6 and 8 inches.

The sizes will all depend on how the homeowner wants the finished look to be.

Board and Batten

The Board and Batten style is a reasonably easy style to create. You could compare it to the look of a barn.

With Bevel, you have the option of layering the planks of wood. The Board and Baton style is more simplistic.

To create this look, you will need to line your chosen planks up against the wall vertically. Where the boards touch each other, you will cover with a baton. Easy as that.

Not only is this method the easiest to install, but it is also the easiest to maintain. If one plank needs replacing, you will need to remove the plank and the batons from each side. Then replace them once finished.

Vinyl

Have you recently remodeled your interior in a modern style? Vinyl siding could be a great match.

Vinyl siding has grown to become the most popular material for house renovations. The popularity could be due to the material's versatility being very high. It also has a low cost per square meter which is a positive for most.

Polyvinyl Chloride (Vinyl)is a plastic material that allows for a heavy-duty product. This material is perfect for those who want a robust and lasting look from their sidings.

The average cost of vinyl sidings can range between $5 and $11 per square foot. As you can see, it's a lot cheaper than natural wood sidings.

You do have options with vinyl sidings. You can either leave the vinyl hollow or you can add insulation. Adding insulation will bring the average up to between $7 and $13 per square foot.

To have it installed will average between $9,000 and $25,000, depending on if you go for the insulation or not. It also boasts long-term savings due to the low maintenance.

Colors

When it comes to coloring vinyl, the color additive gets included in the batch. Through this method, your siding gets colored throughout rather than just the outside.

As the color gets added during manufacturing, you can choose almost any color you like. Although having a custom color can be more expensive. Most manufacturers will create popular colors in bulk for a lower price.

Style

Each planking gets created through a mold. This process means you can get a wide range of styles for your house.

You have the option to go for such styles as Board and Baton from the wood option. You can even choose the option of wooden log style to make your house look like a log cabin.